After the unexpected success of Sun Valley Serenade in 1941, 20th Century Fox tried the next year with the same formula, a romantic comedy with Glenn Miller's music and the great jazz man himself in a speaking part as the leader of a traveling jazz band touring small town America. The film is less fluffy, we have no Sonja Henie here, and a more serious script, yet the film is not as successful, in my opinion. The best part, naturally, are the musical numbers. I've got a gal in Kalamazoo closes the film but there are many others (At Last, People like you and me).
The story of the trumpet player (George Montgomery) marrying an ingénue (the sweet Ann Rutherford) he met as his fan in some small town and the reactions and jealousy this causes in other members of the band is interesting up to a point. Amusingly, the scene of the seduction of the ingénue, with the trumpet guy basically forcing a kiss from her, would never be shown today in a contemporary film, unless the guy was a clear villain. Archie Mayo directed. Also with Cesar Romero, Tex Beneke, the luminous Marion Hutton and Lynn Bari.
The story of the trumpet player (George Montgomery) marrying an ingénue (the sweet Ann Rutherford) he met as his fan in some small town and the reactions and jealousy this causes in other members of the band is interesting up to a point. Amusingly, the scene of the seduction of the ingénue, with the trumpet guy basically forcing a kiss from her, would never be shown today in a contemporary film, unless the guy was a clear villain. Archie Mayo directed. Also with Cesar Romero, Tex Beneke, the luminous Marion Hutton and Lynn Bari.